“Inventing Tomorrow” director Laura Nix wishes her documentary about brilliant teens was four hours long

The people profiled in Laura Nix’s documentary “Inventing Tomorrow” are trying to change the world by coming up with solutions to threats facing the environment. They’re also teenagers.

They might be accomplished scientists and innovators who are addressing problems facing their local communities, but they’re also kids.

This fact was just one of many difficulties Nix said she faced while filming the competitors from various countries at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

“When you’re filming with young people, ethically you’re in a different territory” than when you’re working with adults, Nix told the crowd after a showing of her film at the International Documentary Association’s annual screening series in Los Angeles. While working with children, you ask permission before filming everything.

Nix and her editors also wanted to strike a balance between showing the pressure of the competition and showing the kids in their normal lives. It’s why she wanted to follow the kids back home after the competition and not just end on a winning or a losing moment.